A Painful Choice
by Minuit-the-Cat
Summary: Formerly known as "Unmasking the Truth." A new girl comes to town and everyone loves her. Minuit, though starts having major problems when this girl comes along. What kind of problems? Read to find out.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I'm sorry, this idea just popped into my head XD I just had to write it out NOW.

Disclaimer: The only characters I own in here are Mint and Geneva. :]

Also... I have to give up being a percussionist... :c

**--Her Arrival--**

Mint's POV

When the sheep first arrived, no one had given her any thought, not even me. I didn't think she would cause so much trouble though. None of us really paid her any attention. Maybe it was because of the way she dressed, or the fact that she was different. I guess she finally got fed up with us not paying any attention to her, because one day she came up to us in the park.

"I'm Geneva. Who are you all?"

I turned to her, then I glanced at the rest of them. I sighed, seeing them immediately interested. They'd all been so busy that they never noticed she was there, maybe that was the reason...

Seeing as I was out of costume, I was allowed to talk.

"I'm Minuit, but you may call me Mint like everybody else." I said simply. Then I gestured towards Mime and said, "This is Mime. As his name suggests, he is a mime, and though he CAN speak out of costume, he's unwilling to." I shrugged slightly.

Geneva got a mischievous look in her eyes... And I didn't like it, no, not at all.

"I'm Cuddles!" Cuddles said, waving. Geneva smiled charmingly.

"I'm Giggles." Giggles said with a giggle.

"Petunia!" Petunia said.

"Cool. Well, I guess I should get home before the wolves are out." she said with a small, flirtatious giggle.

I could tell I wasn't gonna like this girl. She seemed in a hurry to get home…

--Regular POV--

When Mint got home that night, she walked right over to her stereo and turned it on. She turned it on really loud. _If someone calls, I won't hear. If someone knocks, I won't hear... perfect._

She wanted to be alone at that moment. She'd seen the look in Mime's eye when that Geneva girl had come over to them, and for some reason seeing that look in his eye upset her greatly. _Does he LIKE like this girl? He doesn't even know her! For all he knows, SHE could be a blood-sucking vampire!! … Okay, I doubt that, but she could be SOMETHING dangerous!!!_

Mint growled slightly and muttered, "Just because someone is pretty doesn't mean they're a good person…"

There was a chuckle she just barely heard and she turned and saw Geneva sitting on her windowsill. She immediately turned her music off.

"How did you get in here?!" Mint questioned.

"Seems like Little Miss Mint is jealous." Geneva said with a laugh, totally ignoring Mint's question. "So you're a witch, huh?"

"How did you…? I prefer the term 'Sorceress!'"

"You seemed a little… off. So, I just had to investigate, I kept getting a weird feeling like you were _dangerous, _so I asked some of our friends what the deal with you is. And they told me you're a witch."

"Sorceress." Mint said with a scowl. "But who cares what I am, I'm _not _dangerous, and I'm _not _jealous!!"

"Whatever you say." Geneva said with a cruel laugh. She stood up and started walking towards the door. "But I'll advise you one thing; Watch your back. You, Minuit Adalyn Abella Bayard." With a cruel laugh, she was gone.

Mint stood there, eyes wide. She just addressed Mint by her full name…

But no one in town _knew _Mint's full name!

Mint quickly turned the stereo back on and grabbed her drumsticks and started playing along to the song.

**--Next Day—**

Mint walked to the park the next day. She was slightly surprised to see Geneva with her friends… sitting in Mint's spot.

When in the park with her friends, Mint always sat between two roots at the base of a big oak tree because she liked it there, and the others recognized that spot as "Mint's Spot." Mint blinked a couple times and then walked over.

"Hey guys." She said with a smile. The others looked up and smiled.

"Hey." They chorused, except Mime, of course. Mime just waved. Mint sat down beside Cuddles.

"What's goin' on?"

"Geneva is telling us of the time she outsmarted the Tiger Army!" Flippy said.

_Great, next thing ya know, she'll be a mime._

"She's also a mime!" Giggles said with a giggle. "She's very good too. She juggled like twelve chainsaws earlier and didn't kill anyone nor did she drop one OR hurt herself! It was awesome!"

_Why am I not surprised…?_

Mint glanced around at everyone and saw them staring admiringly at the sheep.

_What's wrong with everybody? She's not that great!_

Mint sighed slightly. No one seemed to notice.

"If you need me, I'll be downtown…"

No one replied.

**--Downtown—**

All Mint heard while downtown was how great Geneva was. _Does she have them all brainwashed?!?!_ Mint was starting to get frustrated. Everyone loved her and treated her like a queen, and it was really annoying.

Mint went down to the lake and slipped into the woods until she found a small clearing by the water overlooking miles and miles of lake. You couldn't see the little clearing from the mainland, so she felt safe and secure there. It was a nice thinking spot, but right then she just wanted to relax. She watched the sun reflect off the water. She started getting tired and laid down for a nap.

She was almost asleep when she saw Geneva lean over her and smirk down at her. All of a sudden, Geneva pushed her into the water.

"Gah!" Mint immediately grabbed onto the edge. Being a cat, she absolutely _hated _water and did not know how to swim. "What was that for?!"

"Just seeing if you were watching your back is all." Geneva said with a laugh. Then she was gone.

Mint pulled herself out of the water. Suddenly, Soleil was by her side. "I don't like that girl… for some reason, everyone loves her. Why is this so, Minuit? Why?"

Mint stared at the place in the trees where Geneva had left and said quietly, "Because she's not a mortal…"

**--Later—**

Mint rushed to the park, not bothering to change out of her wet clothes. She got to the park and saw that they weren't with Geneva. She quickly rushed over to them.

"Guys!"

"Mint, why are you wet?" Petunia asked. "You'll get all sick!"

"No time to explain, you gotta stay away from Geneva! She's bad news…!"

They all stared at Mint like she was crazy.

"Mint! I can't believe you'd make up such an absurd lie!" Cuddles exclaimed. "Geneva is a good person! She's nice, she's sweet… She's _normal, _and she isn't a _witch_!" The others nodded in agreement.

Mint couldn't help but feel hurt when he referred to her as a witch. "I'm every bit as normal as you are!"

"No you're not!" Cuddles jumped up. "You're just jealous that Geneva has a life and all you have is nothing!" He scowled slightly. "You should just leave Happy Tree Town, you're not wanted here!"

With that one sentence, Mint knew that they weren't being themselves.

"She's not normal either! She doesn't belong here!" Mint exclaimed.

Her statement made the others jump to their feet.

"She is too normal!"

"Don't you talk about normal, you witch, you don't know what normal is!"

"You're just jealous because she's 100 times prettier and better than you!"

Mint finally got frustrated. "FINE! But when she stabs you all in the back, don't come cryin' ta me!"

"Oh trust me, we won't!" Flippy exclaimed. "Who wants a witch for a friend anyway? I know I don't!"

The others all nodded in agreement.

Mint knew she had just lost the only friends she felt she could ever trust.

"Don't blame me when she takes over, then." Mint said with a growl. With that, she turned around and ran off.

**--A Few Days Later—**

Mint went outside for the first time in a few days. She went for a walk and went by the park. She wasn't surprised to see them with Geneva. She saw them all start laughing at something, then one of them seemed to spot her and stopped laughing. She recognized the one who did to be Cuddles. She could see from where she was that he was scowling. Everyone else turned to look at her and just stared. She stared right back before turning and continuing her walk. She went into town.

Everyone stared coldly at her. _Wow, news travels fast…_ Mint thought. She continued walking through town. She turned around and started walking back home when she saw a young child walking across the street. Before she could call out or anything, a bus came by and hit the child, killing him/her instantly. Mint flinched slightly and lowered her ears and continued walking. _I wish I could die permanently…_ she thought to herself.

As she walked by the park, she glanced over and what she saw upset her. Mime was doing his mime stuff, and Geneva was also. Mint became really upset and jealous. _What's she trying to prove?_

She thought she was upset then… but she had no idea what was in store for her that night.

**--To Be Continued—**

This one will most likely be updated frequently, I really like it. Don't worry, when Cuddles and the others said all that junk to Mint, they were, as Mint would say, brainwashed, so don't worry. OH, and can you guess why Mint and Soleil are unaffected by Geneva's charm? XD

Anyway, yea… I only own Geneva, Mint, and Soleil, Mondo Media owns the rest. XP


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Dang, I wanted to get this up two days ago, but yea…

Anyway, yea, the story has changed a little-Okay, a LOT-, so… I HAD to change the story title and summary. :c

**--**

"Perfect, Mint, just perfect." She muttered to herself. "Go and make your friends angry!" she sighed, frustrated. She let herself fall on her bed, her face in the pillow. It wasn't even 7:00 PM yet, but she wanted to be alone, since no one in town seemed to like her anymore for simply telling the truth.

There was a knock on her door.

Mint growled quietly, then jumped to her feet. "WHAT?!" she yelled as she pulled the door open. Geneva stood there, smirking at her.

"It seems your friends have turned against you. Why don't you just leave? It'll make things _sooo _much easier for m- I mean, them."

"I'm not leaving. There's gotta be a way to break whatever spell you have over them!" Mint exclaimed, then she slammed the door. She turned around to go to her bedroom, but Geneva was standing in her way.

"Poor little Minuit doesn't understand that I'm 100x more powerful than her." She said in a mock sympathetic tone. "You think I don't know you know what I am, don't you? Well, you're wrong."

"I'm aware you know I know that you know that I know that you're an immortal demon." Mint stated. "I know that you're also a witch who will never die… at least of old age, anyway. You're just like James."

"Oh, James, yes, I remember him…" Geneva laughed and circled around Mint. "He's the only reason I'm here."

"What?"

"He sent me. He's the one who gave me my powers." She laughed. "He gave me my powers over 2,000 years ago!"

Mint was surprised. She hadn't expected _that!_

"He also told me to tell you that you are just like us- you and your sister."

"You're wrong." Mint said angrily. "Soleil, sure, but me, I've lost my powers. My staff shattered, and all my powers went with it."

"Oh, you mean you hadn't realized this?" suddenly a swirling black hole appeared above Geneva's head and she held out her hand and a staff fell into her hand.

It was Mint's staff.

"Master James repaired it, so it's as though you never lost your powers. At least, not until after you hold it. You'll regain _all _your powers and _all, every single one, _of your memories." She smirked. "You'll realize that not too long ago, you tried to kill your own friends…" Before Mint could do anything, Geneva shoved the staff into Mint's hands…

And all of a sudden Mint felt herself being blinded by a bright light, and scenes ran through her mind and her body started to go numb. She dropped her staff, but the soft grass kept it from shattering. Mint stumbled backwards, seemingly blinded. She stumbled over something and fell backwards…

The next thing she knew, everything suddenly faded into a dark black abyss as she fell unconscious.

She just barely heard Geneva laughing just before falling unconscious.

**--Later—**

Mint opened her eyes. She blinked rapidly as she saw a familiar deer leaning curiously over her.

"What are you doing here?" she quickly asked, not daring to sit up though.

Mime just stared back at her. Then he held up her staff with a questioning look on his face.

_Oh no… it should have gone away!_

Then Mint had a thought. She quickly pushed him aside and jumped to her feet and ran to her room and looked at herself in the mirror.

_Oh no! I-I'm…!_

She was in her original form.

Her mint-blue fur had turned cobalt-blue while her mint-green patches had turned black. Her hair was a mix or violet and cobalt-blue. Her eyes were an amber color. "Oh, this is bad…" she muttered. She glanced at the door and saw Mime standing there, confused. Mint-or should we say Minuit- looked back at the mirror and pushed her bangs aside.

Just as she thought, there was the red star on her forehead. She let her bangs fall back into place.

"What pain am I feeling…?" she asked quietly. "And why isn't Mime being all angry with me…?" She suddenly got an idea. She turned around and asked, "Mime, are you by chance really, really angry at me or possibly hate me?"

He looked even more confused and slowly shook his head.

"Did I upset you by insulting Geneva…?"

Mime shook his head again and she saw a questioning look in his eyes. She knew exactly what the look meant; Who's Geneva?

_Magic! Other people's magic must break the spell! Or, at least for the moment…_

"I don't understand… just earlier today you were entertaining everyone with her…!" He looked confused and pointed at Minuit.

_He thinks it's still yesterday…!_

"Listen, Mime…" She walked over to her bedside table and grabbed her calendar, then walked back over to him. "What day do you think it is?" Mime pointed to the date from the day before. Minuit slowly shook her head. "No, Mime, _this _is today…" she pointed to the day of the month that it was.

So I was right, they ARE brainwashed…

Mime quickly shook his head and pointed to the day _he _thought it was.

Minuit sighed. "No… Listen, Mime, go get some rest… I've got something to do…" she said.

He pointed to the date on the calendar one more time, then held her staff out to her.

Minuit didn't want to touch her staff again, afraid of what it might do to her, and said, "Just… set it down…"

He looked confused, but shrugged and did as he was told. Then he turned and left.

After he was gone, Minuit grabbed a pillow and tossed it at the wall. "Gah! This is seriously bad! What am I gonna do?! If people see me like this, they'll seriously try and stay away!"

Then she realized that that was The Sorcerer's plan. He wanted to make it where she didn't have anywhere to go or anyone to turn to. He wanted her to run to him so he could capture her!

"Dammit!" she shouted to herself for being so naïve. "Why must I be such an idiot?!"

Then she realized just how bad it was. _My friends are brainwashed and I'm their only hope, but they definitely won't let me near them… so are they gonna go on hating me forever, insulting me like everyone back home who knows what I am?_

Minuit let herself fall back onto her bed. She curled up, gripping her pillow in her arms. She was afraid, she was willing to admit that. She was afraid that her friends would never accept her again. She didn't know exactly what had happened with Mime just then, and she didn't know if it would last, but she hoped it would. She closed her eyes tightly, but she didn't fall asleep that night.

**--The Next Day—**

Minuit heard a knock on her door, but she didn't feel like moving. Instead, she pulled the covers over her head so Soleil, if she came into her room, wouldn't see that Minuit had been turned back to her normal form or the fact that she had started crying somewhere in the middle of the night.

"Minuit!" Soleil called out. "Minuit, Mime is trying to signal something, but I can't tell what it is… You're the other mime in this town, can you come decipher what he's saying?"

Minuit groaned, then got up. She went over to the door. "What is it, Mime?" she asked, very tired and upset. Mime was jumping up and down, and pulled his ears down, then pointed at Minuit's staff. Then he continued with whatever he was signaling.

_Well, at least I know the spell is still broken… _She thought to herself.

"So, what you're saying is, Geneva has turned on everyone and is wreaking havoc on the town, trying to lure me out, and using magic to torment the citizens of the town and everyone is blaming me for it since they think I'm the only witch, and they still worship the ground she walks on?" Mime nodded. Minuit sighed and looked at the clock on the wall. It was already 3:00 in the afternoon. She knelt down and picked her staff up. "Well, I guess I got nothin' ta lose…" she looked back at Mime. "Go get everyone else and keep them away from the place Geneva is… this could get dangerous." Mime stared at her for a few seconds before nodding slightly and backing up, then grabbed his unicycle, jumped on it, and rid away

"Soleil, I want you to run to the forest. Something tells me the whole dead-alive thing has been disrupted." Soleil nodded fearfully and ran out the door. Minuit sighed and said, "At least now I can do this without anyone begging me not to…" Minuit held her staff out in front of herself and muttered something in another language. In her mind's eye, she saw the whole town, and saw everyone being ushered away from the very center of the town. The image disappeared when she stopped speaking. She exited the door, closing it on her way out, and quickly ran to the center of town.

She skid to a stop and looked up at Geneva. Geneva smirked.

"It's about time you showed up, Minuit!" she shouted. "Give yourself up or be defeated by me!"

"Defeated? By you? Ha!" Minuit got into a fighting stance, then remembered she had her magic back. She quickly jumped into the air. "You're not the only one who can levitate!"

Geneva smirked and said, "If you won't give in, I'll kill your friend. You probably guessed I have interrupted the dead-alive sequence…" she said with a smirk.

"I'm aware of that… But have you realized all my friends have turned against me?"

"Have you not noticed that you unintentionally freed your very best friend from my spell? I hadn't expected him to hear your yell and come investigate!"

"W-wait… I yelled out?"

"Of course! Why else would he have come for you?"

"He isn't here, anyway, so you can't kill him now…!"

"That is where you're mistaken, Minuit." She smirked. She held her hands out in front of her and a dark blue ball appeared and Mime was right in the middle of it, just sitting there, all confused.

"H-how did you-?!"

"Magic, little girl." Geneva smirked. If you choose to fight, I will drop him. If you come with me, I will either set him down safely… or bring him with us." Minuit scowled. "Don't worry, the Sorcerer has already promised not to kill any innocent bystander. And he's a man of his word."

"He didn't give Soleil back to my father when he captured me."

"Didn't have time." Geneva scowled and let the ball disappear, then reappear, so as to give both Minuit and Mime a scare.

"I swear, if you drop him, I'll… I'll…!"

"You'll what?" she smirked.

Minuit didn't answer.

"Come with me and he will live. If you don't…"

Minuit looked at the ground at least fifty yards below. She was silent before looking back up. "Only if you leave him here in Happy Tree Town-SAFELY and ALIVE on the GROUND- and release all of Happy Tree Town from your spell." She saw Mime look at her and quickly shake his head.

"Okay then. I will." Geneva smirked, knowing she won. She removed one hand from the dark ball and formed a portal. "Go through now."

"Not until I see you put him on the ground safely and remove your spell from everyone's minds."

"Fine." Geneva said angrily, but did as she was told. Mime immediately began jumping up and down, trying to tell Minuit to stop. "What next, ya gonna ask if you could say goodbye?" she asked sarcastically. Minuit smirked.

"That's a great idea!"

"Oh gee." She slapped her hand to her forehead. "The answer is NO." she scowled slightly. "Now go through."

Minuit sighed and looked back at Mime. He was staring up at them. Others were starting to come up to the area. Minuit looked at Geneva again.

"Just because I said I'd go with you… doesn't mean I'll come alive." And with that, she let her staff fall out of her hand for the second time.

"No!" Geneva shouted as the staff shattered on the ground again. "The Master did not want this!!"

Just as last time, Minuit felt her life and magic suddenly drain from her. Her cobalt blue fur changed back to mint-blue and her black splotches turned back to mint green. Her hair also turned back to its mint-green color, the way she was when she first entered Happy Tree Town. Blackness took over her mind just as it had the last time her staff's orb shattered. Then she began to fall.

All this seemed to happen in slow motion for her friends, when in reality, it all happened in just under two seconds.

Geneva yelled something out that sounded like her cursing Minuit's name before disappearing into the portal.

Mime quickly tapped on Cuddles' shoulder with a pleading 'Please help!' look on his face, then he ran towards the place where Mint was falling. Cuddles followed.

They caught Mint and obviously saved her from dying from the fall, but they, along with Giggles and Petunia, knew very well that the orb on the end of her staff had her life force in it, and as they just stood there, her life was depleting, and the dead-alive whatever-it-was was still disrupted.

What were they to do?

**--To Be Continued—**

A/N: Uh-oh, even after Geneva has left, the dead-alive thingy-majigger is still disrupted and Mint purposefully dropped her staff, thus slowly draining herself of her own life! DX (if you don't know anything about this happening before, read "Truth Behind the Lies")

Anyway, continue reading please, IF you are enjoying. And remember, reviews help me update faster 'cause I know people are enjoying. ^^


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